Structural and optical properties of SnO2 films grown on α-Al2O3(0 0 0 1) by MOCVD

High-quality single crystalline SnO2 films have been prepared on α-Al2O3(0 0 0 1) substrates by the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method. Structural and optical properties of the SnO2 films prepared at different substrate temperatures (500–800 °C) were investigated in detail. The obtained films were pure SnO2 with the tetragonal rutile structure. The film prepared at 600 °C showed the best single crystalline structure with a single orientation along a-axis. The average transmittance for the SnO2 films in the visible range was over 90% with a minimum optical gap of 3.58 eV.